Multimedia scheduling for airplay with alternate category support

ABSTRACT

A device and method for resolving a conflict in a chronological scheduling order for airplay while with constant order of the multimedia. A scheduling order can be designated for the delivery and playback of multimedia content (e.g., music, news, other audio, advertising, etc) with respect to particular slots within the scheduling order. Conflict resolution between multimedia content is based upon exchanging a slot position of either of one of a first set and one of a second set of a category of multimedia content identifiers with another corresponding one of either of the first set and the second set of the multimedia content identifiers based upon a predetermined number of slot value to resolve the conflict and to modify at least the portion of the chronological scheduling order while adhering to constant order for the multimedia content. Modified portions of the chronological scheduling order are produced for eventual airplay of multimedia content corresponding to the multimedia content identifiers.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present U.S. Utility patent application claims priority pursuant to35 U.S.C. § 120 as a continuation-in-part of U.S. Utility applicationSer. No. 13/850,858, entitled “METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR CONTROLLING ASCHEDULING ORDER PER CATEGORY IN A MUSIC SCHEDULING SYSTEM,” filed Mar.26, 2013, which is a continuation of U.S. Utility application Ser. No.12/856,952, entitled “METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR CONTROLLING A SCHEDULINGORDER PER CATEGORY IN A MUSIC SCHEDULING SYSTEM,” filed Aug. 16, 2010,issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,418,182, on Apr. 9, 2013, both of which arehereby incorporated herein by reference in their entirety and made partof the present U.S. Utility patent application for all purposes.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments are generally related to the scheduling of the delivery andairplay of multimedia content. Embodiments are additionally related toairplay of audio, including music, over radio stations and networks ofradio stations. Embodiments further relate to conflict resolution formultimedia content in multimedia scheduling for airplay.

BACKGROUND

Most radio stations employ a music director to select and schedule musicand other multimedia programming for airplay. A typical music directoris responsible for interacting with record company reps, auditioning newmusic, and making decisions (sometimes in conjunction with a programdirector) as to which songs get airplay, how much and when. At mostradio stations today, the music director devises rotations for songs andprograms of the daily music through specialized music software made justfor this purpose.

A typical FM radio station, for example, may air a national showweekdays in a 4 pm to 5 pm slot. The content for such a show may bescheduled out of another FM radio station, typically locatedgeographically distant from other associated radio stations. The show'scontent is sent to the other stations within a radio station network forhand-placement in a local GSelector database of music, audio and othermultimedia content.

Music directors often have difficulty in evenly programming localrotations to prevent clashes with network programs. If the musicdirector fails to account for the content of network programming thatruns next to local programming, the listener could be exposed torepeated programming. Music directors often hand-place songs to try andprevent theses clashes between network and local programming. It isdifficult, however, for a music director to adjust local program contentin a way that will prevent programming clashes with the networkprogramming later in the day yet still maintain good rotation of thelocal content. The music director would probably not recognizeprogramming clashes between the local and network show in the hours longbefore the network show. Only as the music director approaches thenetwork hours would the director see the programming clashes. Having tore-program much of the day's content to correct the clashing rotationsis inefficient.

A possible solution to this programming clash is hand-placing contentbackwards in the local show, starting from the time slot of the localprogramming that is closest to the network programming. Once the songsfor the network show have been placed into the schedule, the musicdirector for each station could then work backwards from the beginningof that show, hand placing the local songs in high-turnover categories.These categories typically have, for example, between three and ninesongs. If the music director begins song placement in the hour time slotimmediately preceding the network show, the director can take intoaccount the actual music content of the network show to maintain evenrotations in the local show. Moreover, in the correction of multimediacontent conflicts, such as resolving multiple instances of content withthe same artist are too close to maintain even rotation. Therefore, aneed exists to provide an efficient system and method for controlling areverse scheduling order per category, while progressing in a songsequence in order, in a multimedia scheduling system.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic view of a data-processing system, inaccordance with the disclosed embodiments;

FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic view of a software system including anoperating system, application software, and a user interface, inaccordance with the disclosed embodiments;

FIG. 3 illustrates a flow chart of operations depicting logicaloperational steps of a method for controlling a scheduling order percategory, in accordance with the disclosed embodiments;

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a graphically displayed table which maybe utilized to configure settings for controlling a multimedia schedule,in accordance with the disclosed embodiments;

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a graphically displayed table which maybe utilized to configure settings for controlling a multimedia schedule,in accordance with the disclosed embodiments;

FIG. 6a illustrates an example of a multimedia programming rotation withevenly-spaced multimedia plays throughout a programming day, inaccordance with the disclosed embodiments;

FIG. 6b illustrates an example of a graphically displayed table showingthe three songs scheduled to be played in a pre-programmed countdownshow, in accordance with the disclosed embodiments;

FIG. 6c illustrates an example of a graphically displayed table used forscheduling the remaining time slots throughout the day, in accordancewith the disclosed embodiments;

FIG. 6d illustrates an example of a graphically displayed table used forin which a reverse scheduling method is used to solve schedulingproblems, in accordance with the disclosed embodiments;

FIG. 6e illustrates an example of a graphically displayed table used forscheduling a time slot range in regular chronological order, inaccordance with the disclosed embodiments;

FIG. 6f illustrates an example of a graphically displayed table used forscheduling a time slot range in reverse chronological order, inaccordance with the disclosed embodiments;

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a multimedia content identifier formatfor use in conflict resolution of multimedia scheduling using constantorder, in accordance with the disclosed embodiments;

FIG. 8 illustrates an example of sets of multimedia content identifiersfor combining to produce a portion of a chronological scheduling order,in accordance with the disclosed embodiments;

FIG. 9 illustrates an example of combining sets to produce an interlacedscheduling result, in accordance with the disclosed embodiments;

FIG. 10 illustrates an example of a constant order strategy for conflictresolution, in accordance with the disclosed embodiments;

FIG. 11 illustrates an example of a constant order strategy forproducing a modified set of multimedia in use for multimedia scheduling,in accordance with the disclosed embodiments; and

FIG. 12 illustrates a flow chart of operations depicting logicaloperational steps of a method for employing constant order formultimedia conflict resolution, in accordance with the disclosedembodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The particular values and configurations discussed in these non-limitingexamples can be varied and are cited merely to illustrate at least oneembodiment and are not intended to limit the scope thereof.

The following discussion is intended to provide a brief, generaldescription of suitable computing environments in which the system andmethod may be implemented. Although not required, the disclosedembodiments are generally described in the general context ofcomputer-executable instructions, such as, for example, one or moreprogram modules, which can be executed by a processor, computer, or agroup of interconnected computers.

FIGS. 1-2 are provided as exemplary diagrams of a data processingenvironment in which embodiments may be implemented. It should beappreciated that FIGS. 1-2 are only exemplary and are not intended toassert or imply any limitation with regard to the environments in whichaspects or embodiments herein may be implemented.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the disclosed embodiments may be implementedin the context of a data-processing system 100, which can be configuredto include, for example, a central processor 101, a main memory 102, aninput/output controller 103, a keyboard 104, a pointing device 105(e.g., mouse, track ball, pen device, or the like), a display device106, and a mass storage 107 (e.g., hard disk). Additional input/outputcomponents, such as a hardware interface 108, for example, may beelectronically connected to the data-processing system 100 as desired.Note that such hardware interface 108 may constitute, for example, a USB(Universal Serial Bus) that allows other devices, such as printers, faxmachines, scanners, copiers, and so on, to be communicated with thedata-processing system 100.

Note that as illustrated, the various components of the data-processingsystem 100 communicate through a system bus 110 or similar architecture.It can be appreciated that the data-processing system 100 may in someembodiments, be implemented as a mobile computing device such as aSmartphone, laptop computer, iPhone™, etc. In other embodiments,data-processing system 100 may function as a desktop computer, server,and the like, depending upon design considerations.

FIG. 2 illustrates a computer software system 200 for directing theoperation of the data-processing system 100 depicted in FIG. 1. Softwareapplication 152, stored in main memory 102 and on mass storage 107,includes a kernel or operating system 151 and a shell or interface 153.One or more application programs, such as software application 152, maybe “loaded” (i.e., transferred from mass storage 107 into the mainmemory 102) for execution by the data-processing system 100. Thedata-processing system 100 receives user commands and data through userinterface 153; these inputs may then be acted upon by thedata-processing system 100 in accordance with instructions fromoperating module 151 and/or application module 153.

Note that the term module as utilized herein may refer to a collectionof routines and data structures that perform a particular task orimplement a particular abstract data type. Modules may be composed oftwo parts: an interface, which lists the constants, data types,variable, and routines that can be accessed by other modules orroutines, and an implementation, which is typically private (accessibleonly to that module) and which includes a source code that actuallyimplements the routines in the module. The term module may also simplyrefer to an application, such as a computer program design to assist inthe performance of a specific task, such as word processing, accounting,inventory management, music program scheduling, etc.

Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects,components, data structures, etc., that perform particular tasks orimplement particular abstract data types. Moreover, those skilled in theart will appreciate that the disclosed method and system may bepracticed with other computer system configurations, such as, forexample, hand-held devices, multi-processor systems,microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, networkedPCs, minicomputers, mainframe computers, and the like.

The interface 153, which is preferably a graphical user interface (GUI),also serves to display results, whereupon the user may supply additionalinputs or terminate the session. In an embodiment, operating system 151and interface 153 can be implemented in the context of a “Windows”system. It can be appreciated, of course, that other types of systemsare potential. For example, rather than a traditional “Windows” system,other operation systems, such as, for example, Linux may also beemployed with respect to operating system 151 and interface 153. Thesoftware application 152 can include a scheduling module 155 that can beadapted to control scheduling with respect to the delivery and airplayof multimedia content, as described in greater detail herein. Thesoftware application 152 can also be configured to communicate with theinterface 153 and various components and other modules and features asdescribed herein. The module 155, in particular, can implementinstructions for carrying out, for example, the method 300 depicted inFIG. 3 and/or additional operations as described herein.

FIG. 3 illustrates a flow chart of operations depicting logicaloperational steps of a method 300 for controlling a scheduling order percategory, in accordance with the disclosed embodiments. The method 300offers the ability to control a scheduling order and set such ascheduling order either as a forward order per category or a reverseorder per category.

As illustrated at block 301, the process for controlling a schedulingorder per category can be initiated. Next, as illustrated at block 302,an operation can be processed to identify un-slotted category grouppositions, theme positions and twofer positions. Thereafter, a test canbe performed, as illustrated at block 303, to determine if theun-slotted category group positions, theme positions, and twoferpositions have all been identified. If, however, such un-slottedcategory group positions, theme position, and twofer positions have notbeen identified in block 302, then an additional test can be performed,as indicated at block 305, to determine whether or not to attempt toidentify such data again. If it is determined to make another attempt atidentifying such data, then the operation described at block 302 can beprocessed again, and so on. If, however, as indicated at block 305, itis determined not to make another attempt at identifying such data, thenthe process terminates, as depicted at block 313.

Assuming that such data has been identified, then un-slotted categorygroup positions, theme positions and twofer positions can be scheduledin reverse order over a given date/time period, as illustrated in block304 Next, as illustrated at block 306, dayparts can be designated as“Reverse Scheduled”. When scheduling category groups, themes or twofersdesignated as “Reverse Scheduled” in dayparts, designated as “ReverseScheduled,” each position in the time range can be scheduled in reverseorder, as illustrated in block 308. Next, as illustrated at block 310, ascheduling pass order is retained, followed by retaining the daypartpriority pass order, as illustrated in block 312. The process thenterminates as illustrated in block 313.

As indicated above, the method 300 for controlling a scheduling orderper category can be implemented in the context of a module or group ofmodules. Such modules include computer implementable instructions forperforming instructions including the individual operational stepsindicated in the various blocks depicted in FIG. 3. Note that varioussoftware applications and implementations may be configured to provideone or more of the instructions illustrated in FIG. 3. One possibilityinvolves configuring a database and associated modules to designate suchscheduling control. For example, a bit field may be added to a“StationDayparts” table to designate if a daypart can be reversescheduled as follows:

ALTER TABLE dbo.StationDayparts ADD    reverseSchedule bit NOT NULLCONSTRAINT    DF_StationDayparts_reverseSchedule DEFAULT 0Additionally, a new “Pass Order” table, which can store pass orderinformation regarding Category Groups, Link Categories, Themes andTwofers, can be configured as follows:

CREATE TABLE [dbo]. [StationPassOrder] (    [stationID] [int] NOT NULL,   [entryTypeID] [int] NOT NULL,    [groupID] [int] NOT NULL,   [passOrder] [int] NOT NULL,    [reverseSchedule] [bit] NOT NULLCONSTRAINT [DF_StationPassOrder_reverseSchedule] DEFAULT ((0)),CONSTRAINT [PK StationPassOrder] PRIMARY KEY CLUSTERED (    [stationID]ASC,    [entryTypeID] ASC,    [val] ASC ) WITH (PAD_INDEX = OFF,STATISTICS_NORECOMPUTE = OFF, IGNORE_DUP_KEY = OFF, ALLOW_ROW_LOCKS =ON, ALLOW_PAGE_LOCKS = ON) ON [PRIMARY] ) ON [PRIMARY]

Additionally, upgrade script can be created in order to copy pass ordersettings from the StationCategoryGroups table for each Category Group toa StationPassOrder table. The groupID can be to the category group id.Upgrade script can also be created in order to copy the pass ordersettings from the Stations table for Theme and Twofer to theStationPassOrder table. The groupID can be set to 0. The pass ordercolumns can also be deleted for Theme and Twofer from the Stations tableas follows:

ALTER TABLE [dbo].[Stations] DROP CONSTRAINT[DF_stations_twoferPassOrder] go ALTER TABLE [dbo].[Stations] DROPCOLUMN [twoferPassOrder] go ALTER TABLE [dbo].[Stations] DROP CONSTRAINT[DF_stations_themePassOrder] go ALTER TABLE [dbo].[Stations] DROP COLUMN[themePassOrder] goDelete the passOrder Column from the StationCategoryGroups Table

ALTER TABLE dbo.StationCategoryGroups    DROP CONSTRAINTDF_StationCategoryGroups_passOrder GO ALTER TABLEdbo.StationCategoryGroups    DROP COLUMN passOrderA variety of service designs can be configured in the context ofconstructing a method and/or system for scheduling per category. Forexample, a “Pass Order” may be implemented, which provides Read and/orWrite techniques with respect to the “StationPassOrder” table discussedearlier. Additionally, such a “Pass Order” allows for inserting,deleting and updating entries, inserting/deleting entries for categorygroups as they are added/deleted in a particular radio station, and alsofor inserting/deleting an entry with respect to a twofer when twofersare enabled/disabled. In such a design a reverseSchedule property can beadded to the CategoryGroup class in schedulerData.cs and populated ascategory groups are added in the context of a GetCategoryGroups2 method.Additionally, new properties can be populated in the context of aSchedulerContext with the Twofer and Theme scheduling order.

Dayparts can also be configured, which Expose the reverseScheduleproperty from the statondayparts table in all queries. Such “dayparts”or “DayParts” can also save the reverseSchedule property when updatingthe stationdayparts table. A reverseSchedule property can be added to aDaypart class in SchedulerData.cs and populate dayparts are added in thecontext of a GetDaypartData2 method.

Other reverse scheduling aspects may be configured, including thehandling of revised properties of stations and stationdayparts table,along with the handling of a new stationpassorder table. Copy and deletestation capabilities can also be configured, including the handling ofrevised properties of stations and stationdayparts tables, along withthe handling of new “stationpassorder” tables. Additionally, a“scheduler” can be implemented, including “Next Due” aspects and an “InScheduleDaylnParallel” method.

When both daypart and category groups are ‘reverse schedule’ designated,a call command calcNextDaypartPlay can be implemented instead ofcalcPriorDaypartPlay. Additionally, local variables can be swapped priorto calling calcDueness as follows Int32 firstSongPosInDaypart and Int32lastSongPosInDaypart. Additionally, the ‘next play’ can be passed tocalcDueness instead of ‘last play’. The operation calcDueness can alsobe modified to use the absolute difference between the ‘current play’and the ‘last play’. Regarding the “Hour” and timing, when the bothdaypart and category group are in a ‘reverse schedule’ mode, a newmethod (or module) may be written called calcNextHourPlay. Otheroperations include calling calcNextHourPlay instead of calcPriorHourPlayand swapping the local variables prior to calling calcDuenessInHour asfollows: Int32 lastSongPosInHour and Int32 firstSongPosInHour.Additional modifications include ‘pass’ the ‘next play’ tocalcDuenessInHour instead of ‘last play’ and modifying calcDuenessInHourto use the absolute difference between the ‘current play’ and the ‘lastplay’.

Category group positions can be provided by creating a new classOrderedDaypartSegment, derived from DaypartSegment, which has anadditional property to identify Forwards or Reverse scheduling and alist of category group ids to be scheduled as follows.

class OrderedDaypartSegment : DaypartSegment {    enum SchedulingOrder{Forward, Backward}    List<int> categoryGroupsInSegment }      ▪ InLinearPass methodA calculation of “dueness” as above can occur, which takes into accountforward or reverse scheduling to ensure search depth uses correct songs.Additionally, a new list of OrderedDaypartSegments callednewDaypartSegsInTimeOrder can be populated and constructed from theDaypartSegmentS in daypartSegsInTimeOrder and each segment designated asForwards. For the daypart in each segment in the range, if the daypartis not ‘Reverse Schedule’ then all the specified category group ids fromthe catgroupsinpass can be added to the seg.categoryGroupsInSegment. Ifthe daypart is ‘Reverse Schedule’, then only the category group ids fromcatgroupsinpass which are not ‘Reverse Schedule’ are added to theseg.categoryGroupsInSegment.

Additional OrderedDaypartSegments from the same DaypartSegment can beadded in daypartSegsInTimeOrder in reverse order if any of the CategoryGroups are designated as ‘Reverse Schedule’ and the underlying daypartfor the segment is also designated as ‘Reverse Schedule’. These can bemarked as Reverse, and the category group id added to theseg.categoryGroupsInSegment. Additional operations including iteratingthe new list of OrderedDaypartSegment, and instead of the foreach(DaypartSegment seg in daypartSegsInTimeOrder) the following is used:foreach (OrderedDaypartSegment seg in newDaypartSegsInTimeOrder).

Additional instructions including ensuring thatsongsByStackingTypeAndCatGroup is only populated once per category groupand {hour|daypart} by only populating in the Forwards scheduling pass.Also, operations can be implemented to determine a start position, anend position and an increment based on seg.schedOffset,seg.numPositions, seg.schedulingOrder and then iterating over eachposition in the segment in the desired order instead of always doing sofrom the beginning to end.

If the orderedDaypartsegment scheduling order is Forwards, then anoperation can be processed to iterate over the schedule positions frombeginning to end and continue to unschedule the planned songs as before.If the orderedDaypartsegment scheduling order is “Reverse,” then anoperation is implemented to iterate over the schedule positions from theend to the beginning, with no unscheduled planned songs.

When identifying if the position to schedule is in the correct categorygroup for the current pass, instead of:

if (se.entrytype == EntryType.Song    && se.status == Status.Unscheduled   && catgroupsinpass.Contains(se.catgrpid))An operation can be implemented to ensure that the category group isvalid for the current orderedDaypartsegment by evaluating theseg.categoryGroupsInSegment instead of catgroupsinpass. Regarding ArtistBlock Positions, the “Reverse Scheduled” setting can be obtained forTwofers from SchedulerContext. Additionally, a“lookupScheduledArtistBlocks” method can be modified to yield a list ofartist block positions based on the reverse schedule setting ofunscheduled artist blocks and each daypart in the time range.

Regarding “Twofer Positions,” an operation can be processed to obtainthe “Reverse Scheduled” setting for Twofers from SchedulerContext. The“lookupScheduledTwofers” method can be modified to yield a list oftwofer positions based on the reverse schedule setting of unscheduledtwofers and each daypart in the time range.

Regarding “Theme Positions,” an operation can be processed to obtain the‘Reverse Scheduled’ setting for Theme from SchedulerContext. A new listof OrderedDaypartSegments can be populated, which is callednewDaypartSegsInTimeOrder and constructed from the DaypartSegments indaypartSegsInTimeOrder. The “schedulingOrder” can be then designated asForwards or Reverse where applicable. Additional operations includeiterating over the newDaypartSegsInTimeOrder. If theOrderedDaypartSegment scheduling order is Forwards, then iteration maytake place over the schedule positions from beginning to end. If theOrderedDaypartSegment scheduling order is Reverse, then iteration cantake place over the schedule positions from the end to the beginning.

In configuring a method and/or system for controlling a schedulingorder, as discussed herein, policy information and conditions may beconfigured. For example, an operation may be implemented to updatePolicy Schema to handle revised properties of stations and a“stationdayparts” table and a new “stationpassorder” table. New and/orcharged data can be propagated in “policy” XML and the “Pass Order”discussed herein can have a dependency on category groups.

Other potential design aspects including modifying the Pass Order byexposing the ‘Reverse Schedule’ property in a pass order dialog, alongwith pulling the pass order data when opening the pass order dialog, andmerging with the pass order information for the category groups, themeand twofer rows. Additional design aspects include preventing slottedcategories from being “reverse scheduled” and persisting new pass orderdata when category data is saved. Regarding “dayparts,” the “ReverseSchedule” property can be exposed when adding, viewing and/or editing adaypart. Further design aspects including allowing for editing of the‘Reverse Scheduling’ property in an Add/Edit daypart dialog only.

Note that as utilized herein the term “dialog” refers to a “dialog box,”which is a special feature or window utilized in the context of a GUI(Graphical User Interface), such as, for example, the interface 153 ofFIG. 2, to display information to a user, or to obtain a response, ifrequired. A “dialog” refers to a dialog between a data-processingsystem, such as that described herein with respect to FIGS. 1-2 and theuser. The data-processing system informs the user of something, requestsinput from the user, or both. Such a dialog or dialog box providescontrols that allow a user to specify how to carry out a particularaction.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a graphically displayed table 400,which may be utilized to configure settings for controlling a multimediaschedule, in accordance with the disclosed embodiments. It can beappreciated that the table 400 can be displayed in the context of a GUI,such as the interface 153 of FIG. 2 for display on a display such as,for example, the display device 106 of FIG. 1. Category group optionscan be set using table 400. A user can interact with the table 400 todesignate, for example, the “Pass Order” with respect to column 402shown in FIG. 4. Column 404 allows a user to set “Group” options such asdesignating an “A” or “B” group or a <Theme> or <Twofer>. Column 406allows a user to set “Reverse Schedule” options, while a particular slotmay be set using controls within column 408. Additionally, timingoptions can be set using controls under column 410, and stacking optionsset using controls under column 412. Depth (percentage) can be set usingcontrols associated with column 414. Finally, research data can bedesignated using data entered underneath column 416.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a graphically displayed table 500,which may be utilized to configure settings for controlling a multimediaschedule, in accordance with the disclosed embodiments. Table 500, inassociation with table 400, provide a number of options. The mostnotable option for selection in FIG. 5 is the ability to designate“Dayparts” data and settings, as indicated by the controls associatedwith the graphically displayed tab 503.

In an embodiment, an efficient multimedia scheduling technique intendsto optimize the rotation of smaller categories containing multimediathat also appear in pre-scheduled special programming. In apre-programmed countdown show that airs at 7:00 p.m., for example, songsmay be featured that also play in a normally scheduled category.Typically, songs featured in a countdown show are pre-scheduled beforethe scheduler, or scheduling module of a computer-implemented device,schedules the programming for the preceding time slots. This can lead tocompromised rotations of those songs as the scheduler attempts to workaround the rotation problem.

FIG. 6a illustrates an example of a multimedia programming rotation withevenly-spaced plays throughout a programming day. Each columnillustrates the programming rotation of three songs out of a rotation offive songs (each song numbered 1 through 5) per hour-long time slot,beginning with 12:00 midnight 601 and ending with 7:00 p.m. 620. The toprow 630 shows the day's particular time slot, beginning with 12:00midnight and ending with 7:00 p.m. and the bottom row 640 shows thethree particular songs out of five total songs in a category chosen forthat particular time slot. FIG. 6a illustrates how five songs in asingle category would be equally rotated with three clock requests eachhour for that category. In the 12:00 midnight time slot 601, forexample, songs 1-2-3 are scheduled 641 to air. In the next time slot602, songs 4-5-1 are scheduled 642 to air. The song pattern of 1-2-3-4-5repeats until the scheduling pattern ceases following the 6:00 p.m. hour619, or just before for the pre-programmed show at 7:00 p.m. 620. As anideal rotation, the five songs in a single category are equally spreadand get even play in the program throughout the day, beginning at 12:00midnight 601 and ending at 6:00 p.m. 619, before the start of the 7:00pm. countdown show.

This ideal rotation, however, can be interrupted depending on the songsscheduled to air during the pre-programmed countdown show. FIG. 6billustrates the three songs scheduled 660 to be played in the 7:00 timeslot 620 during a pre-programmed countdown show. Songs 2-1-5 arepre-programmed 660 in this order into the schedule during the 7:00 p.m.time slot 620.

In FIG. 6c , with the countdown show songs (2-1-5) in the 7:00 p.m. timeslot 612, the remaining time slots throughout the day are scheduled 665.The five songs, however, are not evenly-spread throughout the day'sprogramming when manual scheduling begins at the beginning of the day atthe 12:00 midnight time slot 601 when the 7:00 p.m. time slot 660 isalready pre-programmed. In the 6:00 p.m. time slot 619, songs 2-1-5would be ideal choices based on the previous time slot's schedule, asillustrated in 659 in FIG. 6a . But, songs 2-1-5 have already beenscheduled 660 for the 7:00 p.m. countdown show. The scheduler has tomake serious compromises to the rotational pattern, thus having tosettle with songs 1-2-4 669 in the 6:00 p.m. time slot 619. Schedulingsongs 1-2-4 669 in the 6:00 p.m. time slot 619 results in songs 2 and 4having poor spread due to their play in the previous 5:00 p.m. time slot618. There are very few ways to resolve the scheduling problem when thecountdown show is pre-programmed and the rest of the day's programmingis set starting at the beginning of the day.

FIG. 6d illustrates a time slot range 670 in which a reverse schedulingmethod 600 is used to solve scheduling problems as described in FIGS.6a-6c . Reverse scheduling, as illustrated in FIG. 6d works byscheduling a day's programming from the reverse direction, startingimmediately before the pre-programmed show. The scheduler provides atime slot range 670 in which day's programming is to be scheduled inreverse chronological order, preventing rotation problems withpre-scheduled programming. For example, in FIG. 6e , the countdown showis again scheduled at 7:00 p.m. 620, with songs 2-1-5 pre-programmed660. The time slot range 680 from 12:00 midnight 601 to 3:00 a.m. 604 isscheduled in regular chronological order, as shown in FIG. 6e , as thisrange is an off-peak time slot range.

In FIG. 6f , the time slot range from 5:00 a.m. 605 to 6:00 p.m. 619 isscheduled in reverse chorological order to prevent rotation problemsbetween the countdown show in the 7:00 p.m. time slot and the time slotsimmediately preceding the show. The scheduler or a computer-implementedscheduling module starts at 6:00 p.m. 619 and looks both ahead in timeand behind in time to make the best scheduling choices. When startingwith the 6:00 p.m. hour 619, the scheduler finds that songs 2-1-5 660are closest to the songs in the pre-scheduled countdown show in the 7:00p.m. time slot 620. The scheduler then avoids scheduling this songcombination of 2-1-5 in the 6:00 p.m. time slot. Because one song out ofthis three song combination must be used in the 6:00 p.m. time slot 619,the scheduler module chooses song 5 to schedule in the 6:00 p.m. timeslot, in the farthest position from the rotation in the 7:00 p.m. timeslot. Scheduling song 5 in the first position in the 6:00 p.m. time slotprovides the most separation from the song 5's play in the pre-scheduled7:00 p.m. time slot.

Looking back in time, the scheduler sees that songs 3 and 4 are played,in that order, in the 2:00 a.m. time slot. To keep songs 3 and 4 asseparate as possible for a proper rotation, the scheduler places songs 3and 4, in that order, in the remaining two positions in the 6:00 p.m.time slot. The final order of songs in the 6:00 p.m. time slot 619 is5-3-4 699. The scheduler then works in reverse chronological order fromthe 6:00 p.m. time slot 619, essentially repeating the establishedpattern to schedule the remaining time slots and prevent schedulingproblems with pre-programmed show at 7:00 p.m. 620.

The reverse scheduling method 600 disclosed herein allows a scheduler toprevent scheduling problems during peak rotation hours, by buryingrotational compromises in off-peak hours. In FIG. 6f , for example,following performance of the reverse scheduling method 600, theestablished scheduling pattern must be broken in the 4:00 a.m. time slot605 because of scheduling conflicts in the 3:00 a.m. time slot.Following the reverse chronological scheduling pattern, the 4 a.m. timeslot 605 should be programmed with songs 2-1-5, in that order. In the3:00 a.m. time slot 604, however, songs 5-1-2 are already scheduled 644in that order. The scheduler must compromise the rotation schedule inthe off-peak 4:00 a.m. time slot, and schedule songs 3-5-1 695 instead.However, there are fewer listeners in this hour as compared to the 6:00p.m. time slot. By properly constructing a reverse scheduling region,the user can now “bury” the scheduling compromise at a time where anynegative impact on the rotation will affect far fewer listeners than thenumber who would have been affected by poor rotation in the 6:00 p.m.time slot.

Referring now to FIGS. 7 through 12, the embodiment discussed hereinrelates to resolving conflicts of multimedia items in discrete dayparts,or portions, of a chronological scheduling order while sustainingconstant order, or near constant order, of the slots for airplay of suchmedia. An example of a chronological scheduling order is such as thatgenerated under the apparatus and methods of the reverse schedulingmethod 600 discussed in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 through 6above, for example.

With respect to the establishment of a chronological scheduling orderfor a day period, further scalability is required with regard todiscrete portions of the scheduling order. For example, individualdayparts of a 24-hour period may include further conflicts, based on theprinciple that audience members listen or view media content in discreteblocks, such as in 20-minute or 40-minute increment increments. Marketstudies serve to compile trend information for different demographicregions, and also to mark changes in media consumption habits.

A principle goal of a programming director, or a music director, is toincrease the time listening/viewing, and in effect increasing the sizeof an audience targeted by advertisers. Such increases are effected bysatisfying the consumption needs of the listener/viewer audience.

Generally, a consideration that a program or music director takes intoconsideration is audience flow control. For example, assuming thataudience members are receptive to a station's content, audience flowcontrol relates to a next multimedia content in a sequence that maycapture the attention of the audience members of a previous multimediacontent and/or program. Under audience flow, one goal is to maximize, orcontrol, the number of audience members that flow through to a nextselection of a slot, and correspondingly, minimize the number that flowaway to competing multimedia channels.

Content selection for a chronological scheduling order is viewed as themajority of the programming activity leading to audience flow control.With content selection, such as that provided by generating achronological scheduling order under the apparatus and methods of thereverse scheduling method 600, a next step in the process may be thescheduling of the multimedia content that maximizes the likelihood oftheir being consumed by the desired, or target, audience and to retainthe attention of the target audience.

The data processing system 100 (see FIG. 1), that may be directed by thecomputer software system 200 (see FIG. 2), may operate to provide a mix,or interlacing, of categories of multimedia to provide variation, whichis structured to retain audience. Consistency in the variation,including category selections, and proportions of the categories used inthe discrete portions, may provide increased control of audience flow,and advertisement value.

The result sought, then, is a high degree of overall preference andfamiliarity of the station for an audience member, but withlower-rotation noncurrents giving the station a feeling of good variety,low repetition, and depth of library.

In the context of broadcast radio as an example, by having a consistentbalance of music, a subliminal pattern may form, which an audiencemember will grow to understand and expect, thereby assisting in thepromotion of both tune-in and repeat or extended listening.

To extend listening spans and to help manage the audience flow, thedata-processing system (see FIG. 1), based upon ratings research,operates based upon the computer software system 200, to increase ormaximize variety and while also providing for airplay a balancedchronological scheduling order that constantly represents a favorablelistening format in a short amount of time. That is, to reward anaudience member for choosing a station's channel, and fulfill anaudience member's expectations as soon as possible.

In generating categories for use in the data-processing system 100 (FIG.1), audience members should sense a difference between the main musiccategories, and categories should also be based upon the viewpointand/or expectations of the target audience member. An example of thenumber of multimedia categories for music multimedia, which may bemetered from the top of the hour of a scheduling order, are:

Category A—power currents: top songs

Category B—secondary currents: new songs increasing and/or familiarsongs decreasing

Category C—power classics: top testing, very familiar, popular songs;and

Category D—secondary classics: well tested, familiar, additional songs.

As may be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art, categoriesmay be subdivided. For example, power classics (category C) andsecondary classics (category D) classics may be subdivided intosubcategories (levels 1, 2 and 3) to further aid in rotating gold songs,recent classics and recurrences evenly, to promote balance betweendifferent genres of music.

An aspect of programming multimedia content for at least a portion of achronological scheduling order is for spreading out the content androtation to cause the media to stay out of sync, and unpredictable toprospective audience members. For the program and/or music director,adjustments to the schedule order is sought, while still slotting themultimedia in the original order as possible—in other words, to sustaina constant order without losing airplay for a multimedia content skippeddue to a programming conflict (such as a category B song by an artistthat the system schedules too close to a category A song by that sameartist).

Referring to FIG. 7, illustrates a multimedia content identifier 700format for use in the constant order conflict resolution of the presentembodiment. A plurality of multimedia content identifiers 700 mayprovide a set 702 for a category, having a size from 01 to n. Each ofthe multimedia content identifiers includes a category 704 stored bycategory field 01, a multimedia content link 706 stored by link oraddress field 01, and a multimedia parameter 708 stored by multimediaparameter field 01. In some embodiments, some or all of the fieldsillustrated in FIG. 7 can be included as part of an Internet Protocol(IP) address packet, or in a payload packet associated with a stream ofdata.

The category field n includes label data 712, which may be designated ascategory “A” for power current multimedia (such as top songs), category“B” for secondary current multimedia (such as new songs increasing inpopularity, and/or familiar songs decreasing in popularity), category“C” for power classic multimedia, etc.

The link or address field n includes memory data sources for themultimedia, which may be local or centrally situated to thedata-processing system 100 (FIG. 1), or may be accessible remotely or asdistributed storage (for example, as cloud computing via indirectcoupling via a local area network and/or a wide area network). Forexample, the link or address filed may include link-local address data714 for local data memory storage and/or universal resource locator(URL) data 716 for remote or distributed data memory storage.

The multimedia parameter field n includes data regarding properties ofthe multimedia content. For example, with music, the data may includemultimedia genre data 718, multimedia artist data 720, multimedia author(or writer) data 722, or multimedia album data 724. Such information maybe used to provide greater variety within a portion of a chronologicalscheduling order, as discussed in detail with reference to FIGS. 8-12.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example of sets 802 and 804 of multimedia contentidentifiers. In this example, the sets relate to multimedia programmingfor radio broadcast airplay. As may be appreciated by one of ordinaryskill in the art, the multimedia programming may also pertain to audio,music, video, or a combination thereof.

Set A 802 has a category 704 of “A,” relating to power current or topsongs, with multimedia content links 706 identified by song titles forclarity. As understood, the links 706 include data identifying thelocation of the multimedia content source, which may be accessedlocally, remotely, and/or distributed, as may be indicated by theaddress. Multimedia parameter 708 relates to the artist for the song.Set A 802 has a sequential order 806 generated by the data-processingsystem 100, as may be directed by the computer software system 200 (seeFIGS. 1 and 2).

Set B 804 has a category 704 of “B,” relating to secondary currents: newsongs increasing/familiar songs decreasing, with multimedia contentlinks 706 identified by song titles for clarity. As understood, thelinks 706 include data identifying the location of the multimediacontent source, which may be accessed locally, remotely, and/ordistributed, as may be indicated by the address. In the present example,multimedia parameter 708 relates to the artist for the song. Set A 802has a sequential order 808 generated by the data-processing system 100,as may be directed by the computer software system 200 (see FIGS. 1 and2).

The number of multimedia items represented by each of the sets reflectsaudience control strategies based on multimedia content selection andvariety. That is, for example, audience members want to hear the songsthey like with some frequency—too seldom, the audience members will notcome across them enough to expect them again. This discourages repeatand long-span listening by an audience member. On the other hand, whenfavorite songs are aired too often, the effect may be received asoverly-repetitive, causing an audience member to tune out too quickly,and shortening listening spans.

In the present example of FIG. 8, the “A” category content amounts tofour songs; the “B” category content to 10 songs. The relative amountsof content, for example percentages of content, may be based upon astudy, as well as considering cost per song (e.g., licensing fees, etc).

FIG. 9 illustrates an example of combining sets 802 and 804 via acombining function 904 to produce an interlaced result 910, via thedata-processing system 100 (see FIG. 1). As shown in the presentexample, the combining 904 function mixes or interlaces set A 802 andset B 804 to produce the interlaced result 910, which is the portion 902of a chronological scheduling order. As noted, the portion 902 may betimed to correspond to the average tune-in period of an average audiencemember, which may be gauged by survey and consumer studies.

Although the combining function 904 is illustrated in FIG. 9 as a “+”symbol, the combining function 904 may be based upon various algorithms,which are executed by the data-processing system 100 (see FIG. 1). Forexample, the combining may be on a random basis, a partially-randombasis (such as being front-loaded towards the beginning of the portion902), an algorithm based on consumer surveys and/or studies, etc. Thealgorithm may also take into account other business rules, or state orfederal statutes and laws.

In the present example of FIG. 9, the portion 902 illustrates a conflict906 bordered in bold lines. The conflict 906 is with respect to the song“You and Your Heart” of the A category, and Song 4 of the B category.The conflict 906 is based upon the respective multimedia parameter 708for each of the songs. In this example, each song in the overallchronological scheduling order is performed by the same artist within apredetermined number of a slot value 908, such as within one-slot ofeach other (or adjacent slots). In this context, the slot value 908 mayalso be referred to as a “minimum artist separation.”

As may be appreciated, the predetermined number of slot value 908 maydesignate spacing for identifying a conflict 906, based upon the degreeof variation desired. For example, a predetermined number of slot value908 being “2,” the conflict with the category B song 4 would be resolvedwith another category B song at least two slots before or after song 4.In this example, a suitable exchange would be with “Song 6” of thecategory B set having “Artist 6.”

To increase variation, and avoid perception of repetition, a constantorder process may be used to resolve the conflict via thedata-processing system 100. Under constant order, the conflict isresolved by exchanging the B category “Song 4” with a preceding Bcategory song or a following B category song.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example of a constant order strategy for amodified portion 1002 of the chronological scheduling order 902, via thedata-processing system 100 (see FIG. 1). The modified portion 1002engages in an exchange or conflict resolution 1004 to exchange Song 5 ofcategory B with Song 4 of category B such that Song 5 precedes Song 4 inairplay.

Note that the preceding Song 3 would not be suitable for exchange 1004because the conflict would remain between Song 4 of category B with theartist “Jack Johnson,” and the category A song “You and Your Heart,”with the artist “Jack Johnson”.

FIG. 11 illustrates an example of a constant order strategy for amodified set B 1102, via the data-processing system 100 (see FIG. 1).The modified set B 1102 provides another aspect of constant order bycarrying forward the order of the exchange 1004 with a modifiedsequential order 1104, without omitting the multimedia that otherwisemay be skipped to resolve a conflict.

That is, when set B of the example is selected for subsequent use, theorder of Song 5 and Song 4 remain exchanged as modified sequential order1104. Otherwise, if set B remains unchanged (see set B 804 of FIG. 8),the Song 4 would have less airtime (i.e., starvation) because it wouldhave been skipped over to avoid or resolve the conflict 906. In otherwords, by skipping song 4 to avoid the conflict 906, another sequentialcycle of Set B 804 would have to occur for “Song 4” to have airplay.

Also, by not skipping the multimedia entry, the allotted content timestays intact, without the need to provide a corresponding, suitablereplacement for the allotted multimedia content entry.

FIG. 12 illustrates a flow chart of operations depicting logicaloperational steps of a method 1200 for employing constant order to aportion of a chronological scheduling order, via the data-processingsystem 100 of FIG. 1.

At block 1202, the method for providing constant order for conflictresolution begins with retrieving a first set of multimedia contentidentifiers having a first sequential order and a first category. Eachof the first set of multimedia content identifiers includes at least onemultimedia parameter. At block 1204, the method 1200 continues byretrieving a second set of multimedia content identifiers having asecond sequential order and a second category. Each of the second set ofmultimedia content identifiers includes at least one multimediaparameter.

The at least one multimedia parameter may include multimedia genre data,multimedia artist data, multimedia author data, multimedia album data,or other multimedia data.

Upon retrieval, the method at block 1206 combines the first set and thesecond set of the multimedia content identifiers based on the firstcategory and the second category, which in the present example arecategory A for power currents (or top songs) and category B forsecondary currents (new songs increasing in popularity and/or familiarsongs decreasing in popularity). The block 1206 continues by producingat least a portion of a chronological scheduling order having aplurality of slot positions. The combining, or interlacing, of the firstset, such as a category set A, and the second set, such as a categoryset B, may be based on a random basis, a pseudo-random basis, and/or analgorithm based on market survey information, including feedback,relating to a target audience demographic.

At block 1208, when a conflict occurs with at least one multimediaparameter of one of the first set of the multimedia content identifiersand the at least one multimedia parameter of one of the second set ofthe multimedia content identifiers, the method or system may useconstant order to resolve the conflict. In the example provided, aconflict may arise when the multimedia parameter of the first set andthe second set have substantially equivalent data values, such as artistname, within a predetermined number of slot value. For errors to occurin adjacent slots, a value of “1” would suffice for detection andcorrection of the conflict under use of “constant order.” As may beappreciated, greater values may provided as to the predetermined numberof slot value to increase a variety span in the modified portion of thescheduled chronological scheduling order.

The method at block 1210 resolves the conflict by exchanging a slotposition of either of the one of the first set and the one of the secondset with another corresponding one of either of the first set and thesecond set of the multimedia content identifiers based upon apredetermined number of slot value to resolve the conflict and to modifythe at least the portion of the chronological scheduling order. With theconflict resolved, the method continues at block 1212 by producing amodified portion of the chronological scheduling order for eventualairplay of multimedia content corresponding to the multimedia contentidentifiers.

As another aspect of constant order, the method 1200 may modify thefirst sequential order or the second sequential order of either a firstset or a second set based on exchanging the position of either the firstset or the second set of the multimedia content identifiers. Forexample, the modification of the portion of the chronological schedulingorder may be carried over to the sequential order of either the firstset or the second set. Doing so avoids “starvation” of a song, ormultimedia content that is skipped to resolve the conflict, and moretime passes until it is subsequently played.

As indicated above, the method 1200 for providing constant order toconflict resolution can be implemented in the context of a module orgroup of modules. Such modules include computer implementableinstructions executable by the data-processing system 100 of FIG. 1 forperforming instructions including the individual operational stepsindicated in the various blocks depicted in FIG. 12. Note that varioussoftware applications and implementations may be configured to provideone or more of the instructions illustrated in FIG. 12.

As may also be used herein, the terms “processing module,” “processingcircuit,” “processing circuitry,” “processing unit” and/or “processor”may be a single processing device or a plurality of processing devices.Such a processing device may be a microprocessor, micro-controller,digital signal processor, microcomputer, central processing unit, fieldprogrammable gate array, programmable logic device, state machine, logiccircuitry, analog circuitry, digital circuitry, and/or any device thatmanipulates signals (analog and/or digital) based on hard coding of thecircuitry and/or operational instructions. The processing module,module, processing circuit, and/or processing unit may be, or furtherinclude, memory and/or an integrated memory element, which may be asingle memory device, a plurality of memory devices, and/or embeddedcircuitry of another processing module, module, processing circuit,and/or processing unit. Such a memory device may be a read-only memory,random access memory, volatile memory, non-volatile memory, staticmemory, dynamic memory, flash memory, cache memory, and/or any devicethat stores digital information. Note that if the processing module,module, processing circuit, and/or processing unit includes more thanone processing device, the processing devices may be centrally located(e.g., directly coupled together via a wired and/or wireless busstructure) or may be “distributedly” located (e.g., cloud computing viaindirect coupling via a local area network and/or a wide area network).Further note that if the processing module, module, processing circuit,and/or processing unit implements one or more of its functions via astate machine, analog circuitry, digital circuitry, and/or logiccircuitry, the memory and/or memory element storing the correspondingoperational instructions may be embedded within, or external to, thecircuitry comprising the state machine, analog circuitry, digitalcircuitry, and/or logic circuitry. Still further note that, the memoryelement may store, and the processing module, module, processingcircuit, and/or processing unit executes, hard coded and/or operationalinstructions corresponding to at least some of the steps and/orfunctions illustrated in one or more of the Figures. Such a memorydevice or memory element can be included in an article of manufacture.

As may also be used herein, the term(s) “configured to”, “operablycoupled to”, “coupled to”, and/or “coupling” includes direct couplingbetween items and/or indirect coupling between items via an interveningitem (e.g., an item includes, but is not limited to, a component, anelement, a circuit, and/or a module) where, for an example of indirectcoupling, the intervening item does not modify the information of asignal but may adjust its current level, voltage level, and/or powerlevel. As may further be used herein, inferred coupling (i.e., where oneelement is coupled to another element by inference) includes direct andindirect coupling between two items in the same manner as “coupled to”.As may even further be used herein, the term “configured to”, “operableto”, “coupled to”, or “operably coupled to” indicates that an itemincludes one or more of power connections, input(s), output(s), etc., toperform, when activated, one or more its corresponding functions and mayfurther include inferred coupling to one or more other items. As maystill further be used herein, the term “associated with”, includesdirect and/or indirect coupling of separate items and/or one item beingembedded within another item.

Unless specifically stated to the contra, signals to, from, and/orbetween elements in a figure of any of the figures presented herein maybe analog or digital, continuous time or discrete time, and single-endedor differential. For instance, if a signal path is shown as asingle-ended path, it also represents a differential signal path.Similarly, if a signal path is shown as a differential path, it alsorepresents a single-ended signal path. While one or more particulararchitectures are described herein, other architectures can likewise beimplemented that use one or more data buses not expressly shown, directconnectivity between elements, and/or indirect coupling between otherelements as recognized by one of average skill in the art.

The term “module” is used in the description of one or more of theembodiments. A module includes a processing module, a functional block,hardware, and/or software stored on memory for performing one or morefunctions as may be described herein. Note that, if the module isimplemented via hardware, the hardware may operate independently and/orin conjunction with software and/or firmware. As also used herein, amodule may contain one or more sub-modules, each of which may be one ormore modules.

While particular combinations of various functions and features of theone or more embodiments have been expressly described herein, othercombinations of these features and functions are likewise possible. Thepresent disclosure of an invention is not limited by the particularexamples disclosed herein and expressly incorporates these othercombinations.

It will be appreciated that variations of the above-disclosed and otherfeatures and functions, or alternatives thereof, can be desirablycombined into many other different systems or applications. Also thatvarious presently unforeseen or unanticipated alternatives,modifications, variations or improvements therein may be subsequentlymade by those skilled in the art which are also intended to beencompassed by the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for multimedia content airplay by acomputing device, the method comprising: retrieving a first set ofmultimedia content identifiers having a first sequential order and afirst category, wherein each of the first set of multimedia contentidentifiers includes at least one multimedia parameter; retrieving asecond set of multimedia content identifiers having a second sequentialorder and a second category, wherein each of the second set ofmultimedia content identifiers includes at least one multimediaparameter, wherein a ratio of the number of multimedia contentidentifiers in the first set to the number of multimedia contentidentifiers in the second set is based on licensing fees of themultimedia content; combining the first set and the second set of themultimedia content identifiers based on the first category and thesecond category to produce at least a portion of a chronologicalscheduling order having a plurality of slot positions; when a conflictoccurs with the at least one multimedia parameter of one of the firstset of the multimedia content identifiers and the at least onemultimedia parameter of one of the second set of the multimedia contentidentifiers by having equivalent data values within a predeterminednumber of slot values of the at least the portion of the chronologicalscheduling order: producing a modified chronological scheduling order byexchanging a slot position of either of the one of the first set and theone of the second set of the multimedia content identifiers with anothercorresponding one of the either of the first set and the second set ofthe multimedia content identifiers based upon the predetermined numberof slot values to resolve the conflict; scheduling the multimediacontent based on the modified chronological scheduling order; andairplaying the multimedia content.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein theat least one multimedia parameter comprises at least one of: multimediagenre data; multimedia artist data; multimedia author data; andmultimedia album data.
 3. The method of claim 1 further comprising:modifying the first sequential order or the second sequential order ofeither of the first set and the second set by exchanging the position ofeither of the one of the first set and the second set of the multimediacontent identifiers.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the combining thefirst set and the second set of the multimedia content identifiers on ascheduling order further comprises: combining the first set and thesecond set of the multimedia identifiers on an interlacing basis.
 5. Themethod of claim 4, wherein the interlacing basis is random.
 6. Themethod of claim 4, wherein the interlacing basis is based upon analgorithm using feedback of a target audience of the multimedia content.7. The method of claim 1, wherein the first category is a power currentscategory including top charted multimedia and the second category is asecondary currents category including either newly released multimediaincreasing in popularity or familiar multimedia decreasing inpopularity.
 8. A computing device for multimedia content airplay, thecomputing device comprising: a processor; a data bus coupled to theprocessor; and a non-transitory computer-usable medium embodyingcomputer code, the computer code including a program of instructionsexecutable by the processor and configured for: retrieving a first setof multimedia content identifiers having a first sequential order and afirst category, wherein each of the first set of multimedia contentidentifiers includes at least one multimedia parameter, wherein a ratioof the number of multimedia content identifiers in the first set to thenumber of multimedia content identifiers in the second set is based onlicensing fees of the multimedia content; retrieving a second set ofmultimedia content identifiers having a second sequential order and asecond category, wherein each of the second set of multimedia contentidentifiers includes at least one multimedia parameter; combining thefirst set and the second set of the multimedia content identifiers on ascheduling order based on the first category and the second category toproduce at least a portion of a chronological scheduling order; when aconflict occurs with the at least one multimedia parameter of one of thefirst set of the multimedia content identifiers and the at least onemultimedia parameter of one of the second set of the multimedia contentidentifiers by having equivalent data values within a predeterminednumber of slot values of the at least the portion of the chronologicalscheduling order: producing a modified chronological scheduling order byexchanging a position of either of the one of the first set and the oneof the second set of the multimedia content identifiers with anothercorresponding one of the either of the first set and the second set ofthe multimedia content identifiers based upon the predetermined numberof slot values to resolve the conflict; scheduling the multimediacontent based on the modified chronological scheduling order; andairplaying the multimedia content.
 9. The computer-based device of claim8, wherein the at least one multimedia parameter comprises at least oneof: a multimedia genre data; a multimedia artist data; a multimediaauthor data; and a multimedia album data.
 10. The computer-based deviceof claim 8, wherein the program of instructions further configured for:modifying the first sequential order or the second sequential order ofeither of the first set and the second set by exchanging the position ofeither of the one of the first set and the second set of the multimediacontent identifiers.
 11. The computer-based device of claim 8, whereinthe combining the first set and the second set of the multimedia contentidentifiers on a scheduling order further comprises: combining the firstset and the second set of the multimedia identifiers on an interlacingbasis.
 12. The computer-based device of claim 11, wherein theinterlacing basis is random.
 13. The computer-based device of claim 11,wherein the interlacing basis is based upon an algorithm using feedbackof a target audience of the multimedia content.
 14. The computer-baseddevice of claim 8, wherein the first category is a power currentscategory identifying top charted multimedia and the second category is asecondary currents category identifying either newly released multimediaincreasing in popularity or familiar multimedia decreasing inpopularity.
 15. A non-transitory computer-usable medium embodyingcomputer program code, the computer program code comprising acomputer-executable program of instructions configured for: retrieving afirst set of multimedia content identifiers having a first sequentialorder and a first category, wherein each of the first set of multimediacontent identifiers includes at least one multimedia parameter;retrieving a second set of multimedia content identifiers having asecond sequential order and a second category, wherein each of thesecond set of multimedia content identifiers includes at least onemultimedia parameter, wherein a ratio of the number of multimediacontent identifiers in the first set to the number of multimedia contentidentifiers in the second set is based on licensing fees of themultimedia content; combining the first set and the second set of themultimedia content identifiers on a scheduling order based on the firstcategory and the second category to produce at least a portion of achronological scheduling order; when a conflict occurs with the at leastone multimedia parameter of one of the first set of the multimediacontent identifiers and the at least one multimedia parameter of one ofthe second set of the multimedia content identifiers by havingequivalent data values within a predetermined number of slot values ofthe at least the portion of the chronological scheduling order:producing a modified chronological scheduling order by exchanging aposition of either of the one of the first set and the one of the secondset of the multimedia content identifiers with another corresponding oneof the either of the first set and the second set of the multimediacontent identifiers based upon the predetermined number of slot valuesto resolve the conflict; scheduling the multimedia content based on themodified chronological scheduling order; and airplaying the multimediacontent.
 16. The non-transitory computer-usable medium of claim 15,wherein the at least one multimedia parameter comprises at least one of:multimedia genre data; multimedia artist data; multimedia author data;and multimedia album data.
 17. The non-transitory computer-usable mediumof claim 15, wherein the a computer-executable program of instructionsfurther configured for: modifying the first sequential order or thesecond sequential order of either of the first set and the second set byexchanging the position of either of the one of the first set and thesecond set of the multimedia content identifiers.